Fulton County Historical Society News
Fall 2002

Fulton Fall Folk Festival Events Feature Items of Interest

The 3rd weekend of October is a great time to be in Fulton County, with our beautiful
foliage and attractive
rural setting. The Historical Society is sponsoring several activities October 18-20
for members and visitors alike. The
official TPA big Festival booklet will list many other activities throughout the county.

Program on Antique Flintlock Rifles

The fall membership meeting will be held Friday evening, October 18, at 7:00 p.m. in
the Fulton Theater on
North Second Street, McConnellsburg. Todd Alexander has invited a group of area
enthusiasts to show and talk about
the muzzle-loading long rifles made and used in this area in the early 1800s. They will
give a demonstration of loading
and firing. Don't miss this evening program; the rifles will only be displayed during this
meeting.

Museum Display on "Wheels and Textiles"

The Fulton House will come alive for the Festival weekend with a display of flax and
spinning wheels, yarn
winders, accessories, and various handmade textiles. Most items are loaned and will be on
display for the first time. Be sure to
visit the Fulton House for this free display. If you live nearby and would be willing to
loan textiles with a local
family provenance, see Anna Maye Sigel or Bill Hammond of our museum committee.

Second Annual House Tour

Again this year, weekend visitors to the Fall Folk Festival will have the opportunity
to visit some of Fulton
County's homes and historic buildings. A variety of country and town homes will be open
through the courtesy of their
owners between 1:00 and 5:00 Saturday and Sunday afternoons. A brochure is included with
your newsletter. Discount prices
of $12 are available for tickets purchased in advance. Send your check to the Fulton
County Historical Society in time
to receive your tickets by mail, or purchase them in person PRIOR to the weekend at
Richards Variety Interiors or
Morton's Attic in McConnellsburg. If you are willing to help with staffing for 4 hours
either day, see Sandy Richards or
Glenn Cordell.

Tell Us a Story

Directors approved a booklet of Fulton Folk Tales for the Historical Society's 2003
publication. Your story can
be included in this book if you will take the time NOW to send the Society a funny story
or two you heard your grandfather
or other person relate about some person or event in Fulton County. It might be about
hobos, or getting a first
automobile, household or farm chores, or anything to show how life was different. Many of
the stories were repeated because they
had some humorous element. Don't take time to type them; jot something down in handwriting, invest in a 37 cent stamp,
and let us know if we should attribute the story to you or just include it with others.
Deadline will be December 31, but do
it now as you remember some old family or neighborhood story. Who knows, your story may
be as interesting to us as one
of the new fall TV shows!

An Old History Available

In 1936, schoolteacher Elsie Greathead published privately "The History of Fulton
County, Pennsylvania" during
the sesqui-centennial of McConnellsburg. Eight years later, Miss Greathead died in the
January 1944 fire in the Fulton
House. The remaining unsold "like new" copies of this soft cover 55-page book
were recently donated to the
McConnellsburg United Presbyterian Church who is offering them for a donation of $15 to
the Mabel Trout Sloan Memorial
benevolence fund.

J.E.B. Stuart's October Raid

Our neighboring community Mercersburg has great plans for a Civil War weekend October
11-13 on the
140th anniversary of J.E.B. Stuart's legendary raid. Tickets are necessary for the
battlefield reenactment and
the Remembrance Ball, with details at
www.pathsofthecivilwar.com

Glenn Cordell, Administrator

Minutes of the Fulton County Historical Society
Summer Meeting

The summer meeting of the Fulton County Historical Society was held at
the Fulton Theater on Thursday August 1, 2002 at 7:30 PM. Thirty-eight members
were present. The vice-president, Ken Keebaugh, presided over the meeting.

Vice President Keebaugh noted that there was still a vacancy in the office
of Secretary. Motion was made by Dan Swain to nominate Dwight Harvey for the
position. The motion was seconded and then passed.

Society Executive Director Glenn Cordell gave his report. He updated the
society regarding the Fulton House grant from the Department of Transportation. The
grant will pay to fix the mortar on the stonework and other exterior repairs. The grant is
100 percent funded. The money will probably not be forthcoming until October, which
may be too late to start up mortar repair work this year. Therefore, no work may be
done until next spring.

Glenn also noted that the Dorothy Leach estate of Delaware has
donated genealogical material regarding the Deshong family to the Society and this material
will be placed in the library.

Vice President Keebaugh noted that the Society is trying to line up local
Lincoln impersonator Jim Getty to provide the program for the fall meeting, which will be
held sometime during Fall Folk Festival weekend, to fit Getty's schedule.

John Mentzer announced that he has finished genealogical work on the
Jacob Lake Garland family and related families of Fulton County. The book will be
available in October at $40. Mentzer, whose wife is a Garland, is donating a copy to
the Historical Society library.

Following the business meeting, surveyor Chas Langelan presented a
program regarding the "Rendezvous '02" on the Mason-Dixon Line which will be
held by
the national Surveyors Historical Society near Gettysburg on October 17 through 20.

The Surveyors Historical Society takes on projects to find and restore or
preserve historic surveying monuments such as the "Fairfax Stone" in Virginia.
For 2002,
the society has had a granite replica built of Mason-Dixon crownstone No. 75 which
was originally located on a private farm south of Gettysburg and which disappeared
one night in 1990.

The duplicate crown stone (the original was English limestone) will be
installed during a historically accurate re-enactment based on the scene depicted in the
Brian Tucker painting "Running the Line," which was a print published by the
Fulton
County Historical Society. The painting/print is also featured on the front of the brochure
for "Rendezvous '02." During the rendezvous the Surveyors Historical Society will
also have a panel of experts speaking about the history of the Mason-Dixon line,
including a noted English author and a Pulitzer prize-winning Pennsylvania author.

Mr. Langelan's speech was amusing and informative and very detailed
regarding the history of the colonial land dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland and
the English lawsuit which settled that dispute and eventually led to the survey by
Mason and Dixon to establish the line as called for in the decision of the English court.
It
was noted that if Maryland's original land grant had been upheld, Fulton County, nearly
to Knobsville, would have been located in that state. It was also noted that Fulton
County was the site where Mason and Dixon dumped a cache of marker stones. As
they progressed west, the pair found it more and more difficult to haul the huge stones
up the mountains, and they finally gave up at Sideling Hill (then known as Side Long
Hill), and dumped the stones there.

The meeting adjourned at about 9:00. Light refreshments were served
following the meeting.